ALBAWABA - At a news conference on Saturday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan blasted Israeli operations in Gaza, calling the deaths of 50,000 Palestinians "unacceptable and unjustifiable." He urged the world community to encourage Tel Aviv to cease its attacks immediately.
Erdoğan and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz criticized praise for Israel's military operations, stating that "the response to the killing of 50,000 citizens and the wounding of over 100,000 others should not be to commend the use of F-35 and F-16 aircraft against civilians." Stopping violence was his priority.
During the press conference, Erdoğan addressed new criticism from Israeli authorities, particularly the Foreign Minister's social media assault. "This attack illustrates their convictions," stated.
The humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza requires a rapid ceasefire and relief delivery, as emphasized by Erdoğan. He called Israel's actions a "humanitarian tragedy" and demanded that all officials condemn them as genocide.
In Turkey-Germany ties, Erdoğan emphasized the importance of the relationship across industries and aimed to increase bilateral commerce from $50 billion to $60 billion. He also discussed military industry collaboration and overcoming historical misconceptions.
Scholz recognized the many opinions on the situation in reaction to Erdoğan's statements. He called Hamas' October 7 assault a major terrorist act that devastated Gaza, reinforcing Israel's right to defend itself. He highlighted the significance of international law and explained Germany's viewpoint, which differs from Turkey's.
Erdoğan emphasized the importance of Germany in the European Union, taking into account the growing Islamophobia in Europe and Turkey's ambitions for EU membership.
